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Monday, January 12, 2009
3 cities, 12 towns in Misamis Oriental flooded
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY -- Three cities and 12 towns in Misamis Oriental were flooded Sunday after hours of heavy rainfall.
The Misamis Oriental Disaster Coordinating Council (MODCC) said at least 1,552 families or 7,760 persons were evacuated to higher grounds when waters rose near the riverbanks.
Arroyo Watch: Sun.Star blog on President Arroyo
Maricel Casino-Rivera, Misamis Oriental information officer, said the highway between this city and Iligan City was shut down after authorities declared the bridge in Opol town impassable Sunday night.
Teddy Sabugaa, head of MODCC, said rescue teams were already deployed in the affected towns. "We have also deployed dump trucks in these areas to rescue the families."
As of Sunday night, there was no report of major evacuations in this city. However, Major Michelle Anayron, spokesperson of the Army Fourth Infantry Division, said army trucks have started ferrying stranded subdivision homeowners in Barangay Iponan.
Electricity was cut off in Barangays Carmen, Bulua, Iponan and Camaman-an, the most affected areas in the city.
Passenger flights from Manila and Cebu were diverted elsewhere after air traffic comptrollers reported zero visibility at Lumbia Airport.
Early Sunday morning, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) banned sea travel between Camiguin Island and Balingoan town in Misamis Oriental.
Grim faces
Zenaida Emiliano could only grit her teeth as she looked at the waters of Cagayan de Oro slowly rising Sunday morning.
Emiliano had just returned to her house in Isla Bugnaw when the heavy downpour started early dawn Sunday.
With memories of last week's flashflood still fresh, Emiliano took her children to the evacuation center.
"Bag-ohay pa lang gyud mi kabalik sa among balay. Wala na gyud mi nangatulog kagabi-i kay dili na man ga-undang ang ulan. Pagka alas-11 kagabi-i, gi-safety ko na gyud daan ang mga bata (We just returned home. We did not sleep last night due to the incessant rains. At 11 p.m., I made sure that the children are safe)," Emiliano said.
At Isla Delta, one of the badly affected areas in last week's flood, Edwin Sumaham was shouting curses, damning the heavens for his sad fate - two floods in just a week.
"Unsa man intawon ang sala nako nga nahitabo man kini sa among pamilya. (What have I done? Why is this happening to my family?)," Sumaham told Sun.Star.
Luckily, most residents of Isla Delta and Bugnaw were spared by the flashfloods Sunday.
But in this city, the floods lashed everywhere, closing roads and inundating even the upscale subdivisions of RER in Barangay Kauswagan and Apovel Subdivision in Barangay Bulua.
Anthony O. Brilleta, barangay chairman of Iponan, said the waters in Iponan River rose to dangerous levels that they had to issue evacuation orders to residents in low-lying areas.
Cars and smaller vehicles had to use alternate routes Sunday after waist-deep waters engulfed the National Highway in Barangays Bulua and Kauswagan.
Traffic along Claro M. Recto Avenue and between Nazareno Church and the Coca-cola Bottling Plant ground to a halt after the waters spilled onto the highway.
Evacuation
But the devastation brought about by Sunday's flashflood was evident in the cities of Gingoog and El Salvador and 12 towns in Misamis Oriental.
The situation at the Tagoloan River became so dangerous that Misamis Oriental Vice Governor Norris Babeira had to issue announcements to local radio stations for residents to evacuate.
As of 9 p.m. Sunday, Sabugaa of the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council said the bridge at Opol municipality remains closed.
He said relief operations had to be delivered on foot by volunteers who had to brave the rising waters that spilled over the bridge.
"We are concerned of the high tide that would peak at 11 p.m. (Sunday night). That means the floods would rise along the coastline since it will be met by sea waters," Sabugaa said.
He said the badly affected municipalities are: Balingasag, Tagoloan, Laguindingan, Alubijid, Opol, Manticao, Jasaan, Villanueva, Medina,Lagonglong, Naawan, Initao, and Talisayan.
In Gingoog City, 67 families were forced to seek shelter in Barangays 18A; Barangay 19 with 296 families; Barangay 20 with 221 families; Barangay 26 with 139 families; and Barangay Santiago with 362 families. A total of five houses were reported swept away in Barangay 19.
Barangays Poblacion, Molugan, Amoros and Taytay of El Salvador City were also affected and local officials had to evacuate 500 families to the Central School.
Aside from the bridge that was closed down, Opol officials reported that Barangays Igpit, Poblacion, Tabok, Bonbon, Luyong Bonbon and Bara have been affected and 150 families were forced to evacuate.
In Naawan, 138 families had evacuated to the covered court of Barangay Poblacion.
In Manticao, five families from the town proper, Barangays 1, 2, 3A and 4 were evacuated to safer grounds.
Coastal villages in Medina were also affected. Local officials reported that 96 families from Sitio Kabog, Barangay Maanas had to be evacuated.
The MODCC said the spillways at the rural barangays of Rosario, Mamdangwa and Mambayaan in the town of Balingasag burst with waters from the mountains. It added that 35 families from Barangays Poblacion, Natumulan and Baluarte heeded the call of Vice Governor Babiera to evacuate.
Cold front
The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services
Administration (Pagasa) attributed Sunday's flood in Misamis Oriental to the tail-end of a cold front affecting not only the eastern sections of Mindanao and Visayas but also the whole of Bicol region.
Pagasa weather station in Lumbia Airport reported that some 115.0 millimeters of rain were dumped between 2 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.
But what officials fear most is the sky phenomenon where the moon moves closer to the earth, thus raising the possibility of high tides.
Sabugaa said the high tide was predicted to happen at 11 p.m. Sunday.
The weather bureau also predicted the high tide to rise to about 1.33 meters than the usual.
"The Earth's oceans are pulled by the gravity of the moon and the sun. So when the moon is closer, tides are pulled higher," Pagasa said on its website. (Cong B. Corrales/Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro/Sunnex) |
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